abscissa

[ ab-sis-uh ]

/ æbˈsɪs ə /

noun, plural ab·scis·sas, ab·scis·sae [ab-sis-ee] /æbˈsɪs i/. Mathematics.

(in plane Cartesian coordinates) the x-coordinate of a point: its distance from the y-axis measured parallel to the x-axis.

Nearby words

abscam, abscess, abscind, abscise, abscisic acid, abscissa, abscission, abscission layer, abscission zone, abscond, abscondee

Compare ordinate.

Origin of abscissa

1690–1700; feminine of Latin abscissus (past participle of abscindere to abscind)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abscissa

Abscissa represents duration of exposure and quantity of incident light.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
Curves have been prepared having pressure as an abscissa and elasticity as ordinate.
Paint Technology and Tests|Henry A. Gardner
The ordinate of the curve represents the intensity of response, and the abscissa the time (fig. 1).
Response in the Living and Non-Living|Jagadis Chunder Bose
The curve then crosses the abscissa upwards, and the positive curvature reaches a maximum.
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

As the temperature is made to rise one degree per minute, the abscissa also represents rise of temperature (Fig. 66).
Life Movements in Plants|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose

British Dictionary definitions for abscissa

abscissa

/ (æbˈsɪsə) /

noun plural -scissas or -scissae (-ˈsɪsiː)

the horizontal or x -coordinate of a point in a two-dimensional system of Cartesian coordinates. It is the distance from the y -axis measured parallel to the x -axisCompare ordinate

Word Origin for abscissa

C17: New Latin, originally linea abscissa a cut-off line

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for abscissa

abscissa

[ ăb-sĭs′ə ]

Plural abscissas abscissae (ăb-sĭs′ē)

The distance of a point from the y-axis on a graph in the Cartesian coordinate system. It is measured parallel to the x-axis. For example, a point having coordinates (2,3) has 2 as its abscissa. Compare ordinate.